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Archive for burnout

Burnout & Boundaries: Knowing when enough is enough

Posted by 1-Lindsay Perry on
 September 18, 2018
  · No Comments

How much more can I give?

How much more can I do?

How much more can I take?

These questions can be haunting and feel unanswerable. More so, it can be defeating when the answer never comes. Finding ways to maintain and restore energy can help sustain the busy and hectic lives that have become normal in our society. It can be difficult, but recognizing burnout is the best first step.

BURNOUT: WHEN IT STARTS TO FEEL LIKE TOO MUCH

It happens so fast. You start taking on different roles (such as husband, wife, boss, employee) that keep you busy, pay the bills, and maintain your relationships. It could be a new job, a new relationship, or a new friend group. Sometimes within the roles you fill are even more roles (such as having multiple responsibilities within one job). Things go well for a while, but then you start to run out of fuel.

Knowing personal limits is the first step in being able to set healthy boundaries. How do you know where to make cuts or modifications if you don’t even know there is a problem?

Limits can be reached when there’s nothing left to give, but there are still responsibilities to attend to. Each role and responsibility consumes energy. Running on empty can result in higher levels of stress and burnout. Burnout is the exhaustion, lack of patience, and feeling down that comes from long periods of stress.

BOUNDARIES: WHEN YOU’VE REACHED YOUR LIMIT

There are many of ways to prevent burnout and create healthy boundaries to conserve energy and take care of yourself. A few examples include: having your needs met from the work you do, carving out time for self-care, and using your support system.

Figure out if what you’re doing is meeting your needs

Getting what you need from the work you do can be a great step in not getting burned out. It can be easy to just think about the money or the title with the job. However, understanding what you gain from the job you do can be helpful in knowing if something needs to change. So here are some questions to find out if your needs are being met at work:

  • Can I be myself?
  • Is my work rewarding?
  • Do I know what’s really going on?
  • Is my work meaningful?
  • Is my work emphasizing my strengths?

Each person will be different in how many of these questions they want to answer “yes” to. If many of the answers are “yes,” then the chances of burnout may be less likely. If most or all the answers are “no,” maybe there are some changes that can happen to increase the number “yes” answers. Having a healthy work environment will only help in decreasing stress and preventing burnout.

Take care of yourself

Think about what relaxes you. Is it reading a good book, going on a trip, or binging a show on Netflix? Finding ways to let go of the stress of the day can restore energy levels to tackle the day-to-day responsibilities. If self-care isn’t a priority, recharging is difficult. Then, you’re left on empty with mounting responsibilities.

Find support

Having a support system is important for a variety of reasons. Friends, family, and significant others can provide an outlet when life feels overwhelming. It’s also just as important to find a healthy support system. Healthy supports are the people who love, encourage, and challenge you to help you grow. Sometimes life can be too much to handle by yourself. Talking to friends or family is another way to prevent burnout.

 

There are many different ways to help fight burnout. The important thing is to find what works for you. For more ideas, check out these other resources or more from our blog:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/turning-straw-gold/201108/when-say-no-or-not-now?collection=88636

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/pressure-proof/201306/7-strategies-prevent-burnout

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/high-octane-women/201311/the-tell-tale-signs-burnout-do-you-have-them

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-power-slow/201201/why-am-i-so-burned-out?collection=88636

 

Contributed by Lindsay Perry, M.Ed, LPC Intern #79863

Clinical Supervision by Amy Fuller, PhD, LMFT-S, LPC-S

 

 

 

 

Categories : Lifestyle, Mental Health, Self-Awareness, Self-Care Practices, Stress Management
Tags : boundaries, burnout, energy, stress, support

On the Other Side of Burnout

Posted by JenniferChristian on
 March 11, 2014

“Life is full of difficulties. If we don’t have enough happiness on reserve, we have no means to take care of our  despair.” Thich Nhat Hanh

At different times we may find ourselves feeling overwhelmed and fatigued by the multiple demands of our lives. We check emails, text, commute, go to work, chauffer kids, volunteer, cook, attend doctor’s appointments, plan dates, etc. The list of tasks can sometimes seem like it will never end. We may even begin to feel worn out, disillusioned, or even hopeless. Many Americans suffer under the strain of the constant stress and our frantic pace. We are on the edge of burnout both physically and emotionally. According to the World Health Organization, the United States is one of the most anxious nations as nearly one-third of our population will suffer from anxiety during the course of a lifetime. Depression rates are currently on the rise with 20% more cases diagnosed every year.

What is Burnout?

“Burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest or motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place.” (Segal, Smith, and Segal, 2014)

What are some ways we can become more aware of burnout and exhaustion in our own life? Where could we focus helpful changes to prevent or heal from burnout? In the book Finding Peace in a Frantic World, authors Penman and Williams begin to shed some light on the experience of burnout using Marie Asberg’s illustration of the Exhaustion Funnel.

Exhaustion Funnel

The widest circle of the funnel represents life when we feel most balanced and energized. At the top, life is open wide to the world. We have meaningful balance between responsibilities and enjoyable activities. However, when we go through a crisis, or when demands increase, we tend to cut out things that are “optional” in order to meet the new challenges. Unfortunately, we may cut out things that are not necessarily urgent, but nourishing, such as rest, play, exercise, time with friends, time away from technology, journaling, and spiritual practices. As demands and responsibilities increase, we unintentionally cut out the things that fill us and energize us. We are pulled deeper and deeper into the funnel as we focus our remaining energy on the demands that deplete us while continuing to cut the things we need most. We may not even realize this is happening until we find ourselves at the bottom of the funnel feeling angry, lifeless, numb, anxious, or exhausted.

Meaningful Balance

Williams and Penman suggest a journaling activity to assess how much of our life is devoted to activities that nourish us and how much are devoted to activities that deplete us.

“First, mentally run through the different activities that you do in a typical day. Feel free to close your eyes for a few moments to help bring these to mind. If you spend much of your day doing the same thing, try breaking the activities down into smaller pieces, such as talking to colleagues, making coffee, filing, word processing, and eating lunch. And what sorts of things do you find yourself doing in a typical evening or weekend. Now, write it all down, listing maybe between ten and fifteen activities of a typical day in a column on the left-hand side of your page. When you have your list in front of you, ask yourself these questions:

  • Of the things that you have written, which nourish you? Which lifts your mood, energizes you, makes you feel calm and centered? What increases your sense of actually being alive and present, rather than merely existing? These are nourishing activities.
  • Of the things that you have written, which deplete you? What pulls you down, drains your energy, makes you feel tense and fragmented? What decreases your sense of actually being alive and present? What makes you feel you are merely existing, or worse? These are depleting activities.

Now, complete the exercise by putting an “N” for “nourishing” or a “D” for “depleting” on the right-hand side, corresponding with each activity. If an activity is both, put down your first reaction, or if you cannot simply choose, put N/D or D/N.” (Williams and Penman, 2011)

Father son walkingThe purpose of this activity is to create awareness of the balance in our life between those things that nourish and those things that deplete. If more balance is needed, we can add nourishing, self-care back into our daily life. For some nourishing self-care ideas, check out Fuller Life’s Healing Practices and also Olga Phoenix’s Self-Care Wheel.

More helpful information on self-care and burnout prevention can also be found at these sites:

Alessandra Pigni. Burnout: The Exhaustion Funnel 

Melinda Smith, Jeanne Segal, and Robert Segal: Preventing Burnout: Signs, Symptoms, Causes, and Coping Stragegies

Mark Williams and Danny Penman Website: Finding Peace in a Frantic World

Contributed by:

Jennifer Christian, M.A., LPC

Categories : Self-Care Practices, Sticky
Tags : burnout, burnout prevention, compassion, mental health, self-care practices, stress management
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Fuller Life Family Therapy Institute
  • Home
    • Our Story
    • Our Core Values
    • Partner with Us
    • Our Training
    • Donate
  • Info
    • Our Locations
    • New Client Forms
    • Therapy Fees
    • Information for New clients
    • Secure Inquiry Form
    • Initial Session Form
    • Telemental Health Consent Form
  • Services
    • Individual Counseling
    • Couples Counseling
    • Family Counseling
    • Counseling Kids
    • Counseling with Teens
    • Speaking Engagements
  • Team
    • Harold Gibson, Student Therapist
    • Lindsay Perry, Resident Therapist, Loop
    • Stephanie Jordan, Resident Therapist, Loop
    • Chantail Green, Resident Therapist
    • Dormetra Henry, Resident Therapist
    • Riya Roney, Resident Therapist
    • Dr. Amy Fuller, Clinical Director
  • Resources
    • Houston Sliding-Scale Therapy Agencies
    • Mental Health Resources
      • Depression
      • Anxiety
    • Local Houston Resources
      • Helpful Books
      • Personal Bill of Rights
    • Healing Practices
      • Benefits of Self-Compassion
      • Self-Care Practices
      • Self-Compassion
  • Blog
    • Blog Grid
    • Resilient Relationships
    • Befriending Anxiety
    • Dancing Through Depression
    • Growing Kids and Teens
    • Healing Practices
    • Healing Trauma and Loss
    • Living Free from Addiction
    • Managing Anger and Stress
    • Sex Therapy
    • Navigating Separation, Divorce and Blended Families
    • Mindful Eating
    • Practicing Faith
  • New Year New You Challenge
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